How do you compare two PPC agency proposals?

The smaller fee may cover a smaller job.

You have two PPC proposals. One has a lower monthly management fee. The other includes measurement setup and work on the landing pages. Both promise to improve performance. Which one makes more sense?

Start by making the assignments comparable. Put the same business objective, markets, services and media assumptions in front of both teams. Then ask what each agency will do, what your team will do and what would require a separate scope.

A proposal cannot remove all uncertainty from paid search. It can show whether the agency has thought through the work between a search and a useful sales conversation.

Separate the costs before judging the total.

For the same comparison period, add the stated agency fees, planned media spend and separately scoped setup, production or technology costs. Keep internal effort visible alongside that cash total. Do not fill an empty proposal cell with zero; mark it as unresolved.

There is no single fee model that tells you whether an agency will be a good fit. Ask what work the model supports and how a scope change would be agreed.

Compare the missing responsibilities.

Here is a fictional comparison of two proposals for a B2B services business. These are not Carbon offers or competing agencies’ actual terms.

Proposal B describes more of the journey, but it still has gaps. Proposal A might suit a team that already has strong landing-page and measurement support. The right choice depends on which responsibilities your business can actually cover.

Ask both agencies to resolve the open cells. A detailed answer is more useful than a confident forecast built on untested assumptions.

Make “a lead” mean something.

A spam submission, a student inquiry and a suitable project request are different outcomes. Ask how the proposed program will distinguish them and who will record the result after sales follows up.

Have the agency explain which conversion it would use for optimization, why that signal is appropriate and what needs to be in place before it can be trusted. Google Ads supports importing offline outcomes, and its qualified-lead and converted-lead guidance describes later stages of the journey. A proposal should identify the data, integration and responsible people needed for that approach.

That does not make every opportunity attributable to one click. Ask how the team handles sales-cycle delays, incomplete matches and differences between CRM and platform reporting. Our worked lead-qualification example separates form fills, qualified leads, opportunities and customers.

Keep access and handoff out of the fine-print fog.

Confirm which accounts will be used, which people in your business will have access, who handles billing and what happens when the relationship changes. Include the campaign history, creative, landing pages, tracking configuration and reporting in that conversation.

Google’s access guidance distinguishes individual account permissions from manager-account permissions. Ask the agency to explain the proposed setup in plain language and verify it with your account owner. A shared report is useful; it should not be your only understanding of how the account is managed.

Ask the same questions of both teams.

Carbon’s UFP Technologies case study describes paid search within a broader research, brand and digital assignment. That is a useful reminder to assess the destination and the message alongside the media.

At Carbon, we work on a project or retainer basis. Projects receive a custom quote based on needs and timing, and retainers start as low as $5,000/month. That starting point is not a quote for every assignment. The proposal should spell out the scope, responsibilities and any separate costs. Explore our pricing and engagement options.